MacRumors

Macworld announced on Monday that the "early bird" registration for Macworld San Francisco 2009 will be extended until December 8th. The early registration provides a discount on the price of admission. Basic expo floor passes can be had for $25, while the possibility of Keynote access is restricted to those with tickets of $250 or more. Macworld Expo takes place from January 5th to 9th, 2009 and represents the likely venue for Apple's next product announcements.

A number of products are expected to be unveiled at or around Macworld. Long running rumors have suggested that Apple's iMac and Mac mini are due for imminent updates. Mac Pro suitable Nehalem processors are due in the first quarter and we've long heard that the remainder of the Cinema Displays will be updated at MWSF.

Meanwhile, an unconfirmed tip at MacBlogz even claims that Apple might introduce a 32GB iPhone at Macworld 2009. While these "storage bump" predictions are easy to make, the technology may be poised to become available at the right timeframe.

The reason the largest iPhone (16GB) currently has 1/2 the memory of the largest iPod touch (32GB) is that the iPhone can only house a single NAND Flash chip while the iPod touch can accommodate two. The additional space in the iPhone is taken up by its communication hardware. In August, Toshiba announced that they would begin mass production of higher density 32GB chips in the 4th quarter of 2008. These chips could presumably be used in future iPhone and iPod touch models. Another intriguing announcement came from Intel who has developed Flash chips that could increase this maximum to 64GB by early 2009.

Arstechnica points to Apple's mini DisplayPort license which is available as a "no fee" license to interested parties. Apple introduced the Mini Display port with its new notebooks and 24" LED Cinema Display in October.

This licensing news adds some clarity to the debate about whether or not the Mini DisplayPort was a proprietary solution from Apple alone. The no fee license should allow 3rd party manufacturers to integrate the port into their own products and also to develop additional useful adapters. For example, Apple currently doesn't offer the appropriate adapter to allow customers to connect older Macs to their new 24" Apple LED Cinema Display.

Apple has said that they will be integrating the Mini Display port into all future products.

Apple's Safari web browser has crested 7% of worldwide browser market share according to online research firm Net Applications.

While Safari's accomplishment is significant the biggest winner is clearly Mozilla's Firefox which crested 20% market share and climbed nearly an entire percentage point in one month. Meanwhile, Internet Explorer continues to bleed market share and now sits below 70%, a 1.5% decline from October 2008.

The news is similar for Microsoft and Apple's respective operating systems, with Microsoft Windows falling below 90% market share for the first time according to Net Applications and Apple's Mac OS X approaching 9%.

Net Applications gathers their market share numbers differently from sales-based statistics compiled by firms like Gartner or IDC in that they use identifying information from internet browsers. Therefore, their statistics best describe the installed internet-using population.

We collect data from the browsers of site visitors to our exclusive on-demand network of live stats customers. The data is compiled from approximately 160 million visitors per month. The information published is an aggregate of the data from this network of hosted website statistics. The site unique visitor and referral information is summarized on a monthly basis.

Perhaps in an effort to extend the buying frenzy of Black Friday, the Monday following Black Friday has been (controversially) dubbed Cyber Monday. Many online retailers have decided to extend or start new sales on this day. While Apple is not participating in such activities, the big 3rd party Apple retailers have continued their Black Friday sales through Monday night. Our price comparison chart has been updated with the latest pricing from MacMall, MacConnection and Amazon which continue to have discounts as high at $300 on MacBook Pros.

VMWare also let us know that they are taking the opportunity to offer a substantial one day sale which discounts their Windows virtualization application VMWare Fusion from $79.99 down to $39.99 when you use the coupon code "CyberMondayDeal". Of note, this discount is combinable with VMWare's $30 competitive rebate for existing Parallels and Virtual PC customers. VMWare's Peter Kazanjy explains that this would bring the cost down to $10 for those switching:

So on Monday, anyone worldwide can pick up Fusion for 50% off (~$40), and Parallels and Virtual PC users in the US and Canada can switch for only $10.

Those interested in the competitive upgrade rebate should probably buy directly from VMWare (using Promo Code "CyberMondayDeal"). For those who are buying fresh, Amazon is another option as they are also offering VMWare Fusion 2.0 for $39.99 (and it's not clear if the competitive upgrade rebate is honored there).

While several sites have reported that 10,000 iPhone Apps have been released into the App Store, the actual number of active iPhone apps that can be downloaded is about 9,676 as of today's count. The discrepancy comes from the fact that many apps have been removed from the App Store for various reasons (trademark infringement, discontinued apps, pulled and released).

Still, the 10,000 active app mark should also be broken in the next few days. Games continue to dominate the App Store with 24% of all apps, followed by Entertainment (11.6%) and Utilities (10.9%). Games also seem to dominate the Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free apps.

Apple originally launched the App Store on July 11th with only 500 apps. Due to its success, several competitors have plans for their own version of the App Store.

Apple has officially unveiled their Black Friday sales for their online and retail stores. The discounts are very similar to last year's event. The only two Mac models on sale are the iMac and MacBook with discounts of up to $101 for the mid-to-high-end models. Meanwhile, iPods are seeing $11-$21 discounts and a number of accessories are also on sale.

This also means that analysts were once again wrong after predicting discounts up to 15% from Apple this year. Those looking for more significant Mac discounts will have better luck at 3rd party retailers.

Other Mac Discounts

We've updated our sales chart to include deals from MacConnection which may be the best available for most new Mac purchases. Best Buy's sale ended on Wednesday night and so are no longer available. Best prices are in bold and link to the product. Most involve both instant and mail in rebates.

Retailers: MacMall, MacConnection, Amazon.

MacConnection charges sales tax in AL, CT, GA, IL, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX. MacMall is believed to charge sales tax in MN, CA, IL, TN, WI, and possibly NY. Amazon charges sales tax in KS, KY, NY, ND, and WA.

Mac Software

- Microsoft Office 2008 Special Media Edition - $129.99 (74% off), includes Office 2008 plus Expression Media
- Microsoft Office 2008 Home and Student - $109.99 (27% off)
- $5 off Parallels 4.0 - Run Windows on your Intel Mac.

iPhone/iPod Touch App Store Sales

AppShopper.com continuously tracks new apps and price drops in the App Store. Many apps have been discounted in the past few days in anticipation of the holiday. Some highlights from AppShopper's price change list are summarized here:

- Ambrosia (Now $0.99): Mr. Sudoku, Mondo Solitaire, Aki Mahjong.
- Igloo Games (Now $0.99): Dizzy Bee
- Gameloft ($2 off): Diamond Twister, Brain Challenge, Backgammon Classics, Block Breaker Deluxe 2, Midnight Bowling,
- EA ($2 off): SCRABBLE, Spore Origins, TETRIS
- Pangea (Now $0.99): Cro-Mag Rally, Bugdom 2, Enigmo.
- Free for Limited Time: Fastdial, 2079, Tangram Puzzle Pro, TapToDo, Pathways.
- Others: Classics ($0.99), CameraBag ($0.99), BeejiveIM ($15.99->$9.99)

Full list is available at http://appshopper.com/prices.

Other Retailers

Black Friday sales pages at Amazon, Amazon DVDs, Circuit City, Best Buy.

Apple's Black Friday sales have begun around the world in their New Zealand store and Australia stores. The sales show modest discounts similar to previous years.

The only Macs that are on sale include the iMac and the MacBook. When translated to U.S. dollars, the discounts appear to be about $100 for mid-to-high end MacBooks and iMacs and about $50 for the entry level models. These discounts are consistent with last year's Black Friday sale and also consistent with whispers we've heard. If it holds true for U.S. pricing, it also dashes unfounded analyst predictions that Apple would offer 15% discounts.

Apple is also providing discounts on the iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod touch as well as discounts on a number of accessories.

We previously detailed sales at online retailers on Macs, and will post an update with more Black Friday deals tonight.

Update: Final Black Friday sales have been posted with deals from retailers up to $300 off the MacBook Pro.

Arstechnica provides some first impressions on their newly delivered 24" LED Apple Cinema display. While Apple introduced the new display back in October, actual delivery of the new monitors have only just begun. Ars reminds readers that the displays are only meant for use with the new notebooks which house a mini DisplayPort. Apple has said they will start shipping the mini-DisplayPort on all future products.

The display contains an iSight camera, built-in speakers, and a USB hub. This configuration allows the Monitor to act as a very simple dock for your laptop, as it will enable/disable functionality appropriately:

The real nicety of the display is that Mac OS X knows when you have attached the display to use its integrated devices. That is, when you've hooked it all up, it will use the iSight in the display instead of the notebook's, and it will use the USB audio on the display and disable the output on the notebook. That is, until you plug a set of headphones into the port on the notebook, at which time the display's speakers will disable and route the audio directly to your ears automatically.

MacMall has announced their Black Friday sale which will runs from now until midnight P.T. on Friday, November 28th. Last year's MacMall sale delivered some of the largest discounts available online. This year, however, MacMall faces stiff competition from BestBuy who is offering a number of $100-$150 instant discounts on Macs. This compares favorably to MacMall which tends to combine both instant discounts and rebates.

As usual, it can be difficult to sort through the full list of discounts which confusingly intermix both old and current inventory.

This summary chart, however, lists the discounts on current Macs from both retailers with the "best" deal highlighted and product linked in bold.

For those willing to buy previous-generation Macs, discounts can be significant compared to their original retail prices (example, $1149 for original MacBook Air), but requires a bit more research to balance the cost saving vs. buying older technology.

Apple may offer some slight discounts on products for their own Black Friday sale, though historically these have only been up to $100 on a few select models.

* Combines instant + mail-in rebates.
MacMall and BestBuy are site affiliate partners and sales benefit MacRumors financially

Update: Amazon prices added.

Update 2: BestBuy's sale over.

Apple has issued a new QuickTime update for the new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air which come equipped with the mini DisplayPort. The update addresses the issue of standard definition playback through the DisplayPort:

This update is recommended for owners of MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro with Mini DisplayPort. The update addresses an issue where some standard definition purchases from the iTunes Store do not play on some external displays.

Based on early testing by MacRumors reader Ampidire, this update appears to allow standard definition (SD) content to play unhindered over the mini DisplayPort.

Just last week, it was revealed that Apple's new mini DisplayPort enforces HDCP protection. This prevents the playback of HDCP flagged content over non-secure video output. In the example given, one customer was unable to play back an SD iTunes movie over a mini DisplayPort <-> VGA connector. Several readers objected to this restriction as iTunes movies downloaded to your computer are only offered in standard definition, while the HDCP protection was intended to prevent digital copying of high definition content.

This latest update appears to remove the HDCP enforcement on standard definition content, which means that current movie content purchased or rented on a Mac should playback unrestricted. While Apple does offer high definition movies for rental through Apple TV, it's not clear when Apple will begin offering this to Mac users.